


The Fabulous Baker Brothers

by FrustratedPoet1979



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Muggle, Bakery AU, F/M, First Meetings, Fluff, Fun, M/M, Muggle AU, jily, wolfstar
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-05
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-17 05:53:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29220537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FrustratedPoet1979/pseuds/FrustratedPoet1979
Summary: Lily walks a different route home from work and stumbles upon a cute little Bakery with an even cuter baker in the window.
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 30
Kudos: 105





	The Fabulous Baker Brothers

**Author's Note:**

> thank you so much to Midnightelite, theroomofreq, and alrightginger. 
> 
> There is a bit of talk about food so be warned it might make you hungry!

  
  


Lily Evans had no problem walking around London. Her flatmates would always tell her to be careful, take the train, the bus, or even an Uber.  _ Like she could afford to take an Uber every day for goodness sake. _ Lily had a plan to pay off her student loans before she was thirty, and a tight budget to meet that goal. So she walked nearly everywhere, no matter the weather or the season. That’s what waterproofs, big coats, and good shoes were for. 

Her favourite was the walk home after finishing a night shift at around 5 am when the sky was just waking up. Not that a person could see much of the sky when walking through the built-up areas of London. The streets would be free of nearly everything but the vans delivering the first edition papers to the newsstands, or the milkmen doing their rounds, milk bottles clinking as the electric carts trundled past her. She hadn’t even realised milk was still delivered this way, not since she was a child growing up in the long narrow streets of Cardiff could she remember collecting milk from your door. 

She always walked the same way. Turn right from the hospital, then keep going straight across three traffic lights until she came to the rather grand looking Empire Hotel. There, cross the street and take the diagonal alleyway down to the underpass. Putting her foil-wrapped packet of leftovers from the night shift into the outdoor sleeper’s donation box, then up along a collection of grubby shops around the kids’ play park and then home.

That had been her route for months, it was the shortest she had managed to find. She never worried about muggers or strangers, she knew how to look after herself if anyone did try. Fourteen years of Thai-Kwon-Do training did that to your confidence. But even despite that, wearing her NHS ambulance uniform was like wearing an extra layer of protection anyway. So walk that way she did, every single time without fail. Until one day the alleyway was blocked by a great big orange barrier, stopping her halfway along.

Lily grumbled thinking they could at least put a sign up by the entrance and not make her walk all the way up here first. She disliked the idea of backtracking too far so she got out her phone and let it find her location. The maps on her device were notoriously inaccurate, usually putting her in the general direction of about three different streets, but this time it pinged her straight away and gave her a dotted line to follow. Just a little further down from the blocked off alleyway was another little side street, this one brighter and more welcoming than her usual route. There was also a fantastic smell of baking bread emanating from one of the buildings.

Normally at this hour, the only shops with any sign of activity were the 24hour convenience shops with their harsh strip lighting, lino floors, and soulless self-checkouts. As soon as she saw the front of this place she wished she had found this route sooner.

It looked straight out of a Dickens novel with its small square glass panelled bay window, the outside woodwork and door painted British racing green and with a swinging sign in the shape of a mushroom-like chef’s hat. She read the name of the place written in golden cursive lettering,  _ Too Hot to Handle.  _ She nearly laughed out loud. As she stepped closer wondering when they opened she spotted the small side window into the kitchen, where the baker was busy making bread.

Was there anything in the world more satisfying than watching someone knead dough? The way the shoulder blades slid underneath the thin t-shirt, biceps bulging and contracting. Strong hands gliding the dough, fingers sprinkling down the flour. 

Perhaps Lily was a little obsessed, perhaps not everyone thought the way she did about bread. The smell alone was making her mouth water, but perhaps if they also happened to walk past a bakery that had a viewing window into the kitchen they would find it equally mesmerising. The muscled back in question that had first caught her eye never faced the window, never even lifted their head from the task. She stepped away reluctantly, promising herself to come back when they were open.

The next morning she had to walk past the bakery once more. She was pleased to see it hadn’t been a figment of her overtired brain. The swinging sign and golden lettering were a welcoming sight to her. Once again her footsteps slowed as she approached the window peeking into the kitchen, she let herself stand a bit closer this time, breathing in the delicious smells coming from the extractor vent. Was it the same baker as yesterday? He still didn’t seem to notice her looking at him, his methodical movements were efficient and captivating. He was making rolls, two at a time. A figure coming into the kitchen broke her stare and she looked away from the baker to see a woman standing in the doorway to the shop looking curiously straight at her. Guiltily she stepped back like she had been caught peeping at a changing room and rushed off up the street, her heart beating.

For the next few days, Lily’s mind kept going back to that little street. She was on her rest days so had no reason to just randomly walk past. She would actually have to stop and buy something. She had not had a properly made crusty roll from a bakery in so long. There was nothing in the world as comforting as freshly made bread. She remembered her dad making some every Sunday as a treat until his arthritis made it too painful. She had already started to fantasise about what it would taste like, what kind of bread would she buy? It wasn’t that she had a problem, of course she didn’t, but back when she had been training more, it had become a staple to stop at the bakery on her way home from the gym and buy herself a doughnut. She still remembered the way her sister had always commented on it, making her feel like she should be ashamed of eating anything at all.

Luckily for Lily and her mental health she had stopped listening to what her sister thought of anything at all long before that moment, in fact, it would make eating the sweet treats taste that much better. She wondered if they did French pastry too? Unfortunately, she was still too mortified about being caught sneaking outside to go in. Even the next couple of times walking home in the early hours, she made sure she took the detour past but refused to let her feet linger, telling herself the smell was enough. 

*

There were no leftover sandwiches when she walked into the break room at the end of her shift. There were _ always _ leftover sandwiches. It wasn’t really that big of a deal, but on top of everything else that had happened this shift, it made Lily almost feel like crying. She had been on an emergency call trying to keep them calm, willing them to keep talking to her until the ambulance arrived. She had stayed on the line with them well past the end of her shift, not wanting to leave even after she heard the paramedics arrive and she was supposed to hang up, she had listened to them working to stabilize them enough to transport. It was only when the line went quiet that she disconnected, knowing they were on their way to the hospital, to the best possible care. Being an emergency call operator was never an easy job, but some days were way worse than others. Lily had just wanted to sit in the break room for a few minutes to settle herself and eat something sweet to feel better. But the staff room that always had snacks of varying levels of freshness was looking extremely clean and bereft of anything apart from coffee. She sighed, thinking she would have to brave the Tesco on the corner of her street before she went home, being unable to rely on the contents of her own fridge. She hated that supermarket, especially when she was already past the point of regular tiredness. It was going to be a slow walk home.

She thought that until she walked past the little bakery. The bakery that was not closed. The smells of baking, more intense than ever with the shop door propped open by a statue of a round fat man in a similar chef’s hat to the one on the sign. It had been over a month since she had been seen at the window, surely enough time had passed for her to no longer be embarrassed.

Inside the shop was just as pretty as the outside. Shelves lined with wicker baskets filled with so many types of bread covered the back wall. Glass fronted display cabinets filled with colourful dainty cakes, pastries, meringues, pies, and biscuits, made a barrier between where she was standing and the server. There was not a great deal of space where she stood, even less behind the counter, it was small but every part of it had been maximised to its full potential, the selection was astonishing, considering she was pretty sure all the work was done by hand. Lily had no idea how long she stood there astonished by the selection. It reminded her of the fancy cake shops she had seen on her school trip to Paris as a teenager.

When Lily finally tore her head away from the displays long enough to look at the server, she recognised them as the same women who had spotted her at the window. She looked to be in her sixties Lily guessed, her short grey hair was kept neatly in place by the white hat she was wearing, her intelligent eyes were watching her with polite interest. And her smile was warm and welcoming. Lily tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and looked back down at the display.

“Two sourdough rolls, and three Pain Au chocolats’ please?” she asked shyly. The ladies’ smile broadened as she turned to fill a paper bag with two intricately scored round rolls from one of the baskets behind her. Lily glanced to the side door, she could hear the sound of dough being slapped against the table, but wherever they were standing they were not visible from her position.

She paid for her goods contactlessly, grabbed the paper bag as it was handed to her, and practically ran out of the shop.

She unfurled the top as soon as she was out of view, unable to wait until she was home to eat the pastry. She was so hungry she didn't waste any time but bit about half of it in one. It was sweet and buttery, with a softly melting chocolate centre, she had never tasted anything that came even close since that same Paris trip. She was just finishing it off, licking her fingers unashamedly when she reached the underpass. Because she was later the usually unidentifiable lumpy sleeping bag was a person sitting up. She did not hesitate at all before handing them the other pastries still in their smaller paper bag, hoping they wouldn’t be disappointed.

“No leftover sandwiches today I’m sorry,” she told them, not waiting around for a reply. She was beginning to feel a rather welcome sugar rush, pushing off her fatigue for long enough to keep her legs moving and back to her flat.

When she finally got home, she sat down hard at the kitchen table, contemplating just going to bed instead of trying to eat anymore. But the sugar from the pastry was wearing off and she knew she would wake up famished, and sooner than she wanted to if she didn’t. Wearily she lifted herself back up and looked in the fridge. There wasn’t a huge selection to go with her bread, but there were some cheddar slices and still a little bit of her dad’s homemade chutney.

The first bite made her make a noise she had never uttered outside of her bedroom before. The way the crispy crust broke making that wonderful crackle as her teeth sunk through to soft inner bread, the flavours of the cheese and pickle mingling perfectly, she was in complete heaven.

“My god, Evans I thought you’d brought a bloke home!” Marlene, her flatmate, exclaimed walking out of her bedroom already in her scrubs, blonde hair tied back severely into a bun. “You’re home late, bad shift?” Lily just nodded and took another bite, swiping the crumbs off her chin with a finger, “Do you want to talk about it?” Lily shook her head and moaned again. “Jeez Lily, why don’t you take it to your room? What’s in that sandwich?”

“This is the best thing ever, you have to try it.” Marlene looked sceptical but nevertheless took a bite out of the roll and her eyes rolled backwards. No words were needed Lily just nodded her agreement.

  
  


*

Lily didn’t think about the little bakery until she was standing outside it again the next morning. She should have just kept walking, she knew it would be closed. Why had her feet even come this way at all? But her feet wanted her to have a closer look at the treats on offer, and perhaps a peek at who was making them.

The dark-haired, broad-shouldered guy was there again, his back to the window, hands and arms busy working the dough on the table in front of him, she thought he was making some kind of small pastry, his fingers were deftly twisting then placing on large greased trays. He was wearing black and white check chef’s trousers today with the same long sleeved, tightly fitting, white T-shirt she remembered from before, his shoulder blades danced underneath the cotton, the ribbon of his apron crossing tightly around his neat waist, and a red and black bandana covering his head.

She couldn’t make out his face. Not even in a reflection, as every surface in that room was stainless steel or wood.

“Good morning,” came a female voice from right beside, making Lily jump out her skin and turn like she had been caught with her hand in the sweetie jar.

“Hi, sorry,” she gave her a nervous smile, “ just looking at your wonderful cakes.” She felt the heat rise up in her cheeks at the obvious lie. She was at the wrong window.

“Did you enjoy the rolls yesterday?” she asked next, making Lily stop.

“Yes, thank you, they were wonderful,” she replied, impressed. “You must have a good memory, I’m sure you get loads of customers every day” 

“True,” she replied with a twinkle in her eyes, “ but not normally as early as you.” Lily shrugged looking down at her shoes.

“Yes, I’m just going home from my shift, I finished a bit later yesterday so you were actually open.”

“Oh, we are open now, if you would like to buy something. Not quite as much is ready yet, but we have croissants just out of the oven.” She started walking back into the shop as she was speaking so Lily had no choice but to follow her in. Lily’s mouth was already watering at the thought of the buttery flaky pastry.

“Just out the oven?” Lily asked in a delighted almost whisper.

“Oh, yes. How many would you like?”

“Four?” Remus had thrown a strop yesterday when he’d discovered she’d gone to a bakery and hadn’t brought back anything for him so she would make sure she did today.

“No problem, I’ll just have to go get them. They might still be a little hot but I’ll put them in a box for you.” Her voice trailed off as she went into the kitchen leaving Lily to stand and wait. _ “JAMES!”  _ She heard the woman shout from another room. “Where are the..? Oh, never mind, I found them.” She came back carrying the kind of boxes that were normally reserved for delicate cakes and placed it on the top of the glass for Lily to take.

“May I ask, do you make everything by hand?”

“Well not me personally anymore, I help a bit but it’s mainly my sons who do all the work,” she stated proudly. “Would you like anything else?” Lily shook her head.

“I would love too but I don’t have the time to burn it off anymore,” she confessed and the lady smiled politely. She paid for her pastry, went to leave but before she reached the door the thought struck her.

“Did you open just for me?”

“Oh, no my dear we just decided to open a little earlier today for no reason at all.”

* 

Lily arrived back at her flat to find Marlene and Remus already sitting at their kitchen table expectantly. Remus was hugging the biggest mug they had and the smell of roast coffee was thick in the air. Marlene was wrapped up in her fluffy pink dressing gown, her hair in rollers. Lily remembered her saying she was going to spend today with her girlfriend, the doctor. Lily thought she might have been here already. Dorcas often spent the night, especially if they both had the rare occurrence of a shared day off the next day. It was a little cliché for nurses and doctors to date, but understandable as who else could understand the demanding schedule of hospital staff. But it seemed that Marlene had made plans to meet her later. Where Marlene looked like she was on her way to being ready for her day, Remus looked like he had barely woken up. 

“Wow Remus, what’s the occasion? I don’t normally see you out of your room before noon?”

“Marlene and you were rhapsodising about those fucking rolls you had yesterday. I just had to try for myself, so hand them over.”

“Who says I want to share?”

“That box you are holding,” he replied with his hand out, with an exaggerated sigh she placed the box in his hand and went to make herself some tea. She smiled to herself as she saw the teapot already sitting with a herbal tea bag inside.

“I would have poured it already but I know you don’t like it over brewed.” Marlene told her with a smile, and she was right. Lily hated the bitter taste if it was left too long. Coffee was her favourite but she would never sleep if she took any now.

_ “ _ No cakes?” Marlene exclaimed sounding slightly disappointed, taking a croissant out the box. “These do look good, though.” Lily tried not to roll her eyes at her friend who had the sweetest tooth, Lily, on the other hand, didn’t quite so much, she liked chocolate but preferred it more on the dark side. She was the type of person who would eat the rich fruit Christmas cake but leave the icing.

Remus picked up one for himself. “They’re still a little warm!” he exclaimed with joy. Without being asked Lily took the jar of chocolate spread out of the cupboard and placed it with a knife in front of him, he didn’t say anything just smirked at the jar.

“Oh my fucking god,” Marline said her mouth full, she moaned leaning back in her chair looking up at the ceiling. Remus and Lily both watched her, slightly stunned by her reaction. Remus pulled a piece from the end and popped it in his mouth. His reaction wasn’t quite as extreme but his eyes closed as he savoured the flavour nodding to himself as if agreeing with Marlene.

“Good lord, can you two get a grip on yourselves?” Lily complained before sitting down and taking a bite of her own. She thought she knew what it would taste like having already tried a breakfast pastry just yesterday. The outside flaked but not enough that you were left with a mouthful of crumbs, the inner layers were soft and pale yellow, with almost a lightly toasted flavour. 

“Huh?” she said amazed.

“You need to tell me where this place is. You can’t deny me this, you have no idea,” Remus told her earnestly.

“Do you and these need to get a room?” Marlene giggled, looking in the box for more.

“Says the woman who was moaning not two minutes before.” Remus glanced at the single crescent moon left in the box, then at her. Lily took a long sip of her tea before placing it down with a sigh. 

“You two can fight over the last one or be adults and share it. I’m going to bed.”

“Lily, where is this place?” Remus called to her pleadingly

“Buccaneer street,” Lily replied with a yawn closing her bedroom door, and blocking out her two best friends.

*

Lily awoke to a quiet house. This was not unusual, Marlene was often on the opposite shift to herself and Remus tended to spend most of his awake time doing whatever freelance photographers did outside the house.

Sleepily she stretched and put her slippers on, shuffled back to the kitchen hoping they had refilled the coffee machine for her. She had left her phone on the kitchen table and the screen lit up as she sat down.

Two texts from Remus and an Instagram notification. 

  
  


**Remus:** I found your bakery. 

Either I need to start going to the gym again or find a man who likes my dry wit and stunning 

personality.

**Remus** : The baker is HOT. Like OMG are you kidding me hot!

Having that viewing window into the kitchen is genius.

I could have stared at that arse all day.

Lily rolled her eyes as she tapped out a reply.

**Lily** : Haha I knew you would love the place, it's cute isn’t it?

Lily poured herself a large cup of coffee and was settling down to drink it when her screen lit up again.

**Remus:** Update. So I got talking with the owner and said she would be happy for me to take a few pictures to

help promote their business.

Apparently, they’ve not been there that long.

I’ve already taken a few snaps for my insta.

Lily exited her text messages and opened her Instagram and selected Remus’ page. It was always full of an assortment of fabulous pictures of all sorts of things, normally related to current events. But all of them today were pictures from that beautiful tiny bakery. Her breath caught when she viewed the last picture. The grey-haired lady who had served her both times without the usual white hat and apron, wearing a cornflower blue dress covered in tiny white flowers, standing smiling proudly, an arm around the two men standing at each side of her with their backs to the camera completely dwarfing her. They were wearing matching bandanas and T-shirts but instead of the usual plain white she had seen every time, these were dark green and both said  _ Too Hot….?  _ across the shoulders.  _ Euphemia Potter with her sons: James and Sirius  _ Lily read. At least now she had a name for each of them but still not a face to the bakers. Which one was her baker?

**Lily:** Your skills are slipping, Remus. Are they so ugly you had to save

us from seeing their faces? 

**Remus:** They wanted to promote their brand and not their faces, which I am so upset about. They are both

extremely handsome, but Sirius (the one with the sleeve tattoo) is so hot I almost dropped my camera.

Lily looked a bit more closely at the photo and spotted the arm with the intricate sleeve work. Unfortunately, this still wasn’t much to go on. They both had dark hair the majority of which was hidden under matching bandanas and the same build, was one a little shorter? 

**Lily:** Did he show any interest back?

**Remus** : Sort of. I’m not sure, I’ll tell you about it when I get home. Are you working later?

  
  
  
  
  


Remus, as it turned out, was hopeless when it came to making a first move, and had no additional information to tell her beyond the fact that when he had told Sirius he liked his tattoos, Sirius had complimented his camera and touched his arm. This to Lily was a ringing endorsement of interest at the very least, but not to poor Remus who couldn’t even say for sure he knew he was gay.

This just made Lily shake her head at her poor clueless friend, and decide she would have to do something about this herself. The way Remus was talking about him she just knew this had to happen if it was at all possible, she owed it to Remus as his best friend.

Going back to the bakery for the third day in a row, Lily’s budget was really starting to take a bit of a battering. She wasn’t sure if she could keep this up. Buying things in London was expensive, buying handcrafted artisan food in London was enough to make you consider your life choices. She would sacrifice her budget, just this once. 

It was not exactly the day off she had originally planned. That day had included wearing her pajamas all day, a scorching hot bath, a bottle of wine and not leaving the flat at all. But here she was, dressed in her best fitting jeans, midnight blue top, long grey oversized cardigan, and ankle boots, standing outside the little bakery waiting her turn. She had never been in the middle of the day before so had never had to que. This did not bode well for her plan at all. She couldn’t be charming and funny and ask for his number for her friend if she was holding up the line. She just couldn't do that, she hated people who did that. Well, hate was a strong word, she would get mildly disgruntled if she had to wait behind chatty customers when she was in a hurry.

The first barrier to get over of course would be Mrs Potter, perhaps if Lily could get her inside help? But the relationship between sons and their mothers was a tricky thing. She would have to tread carefully, she had grown far too fond of this place to have to stop due to a misunderstanding with the owner. The line got closer to the shop and she could now see inside the kitchen. The stainless steel table was bare and wiped clean, no evidence of the usual industry. She tried to suppress her disappointment, feeling more than a little guilty for objectifying whoever it was she had been looking forward to watching. 

The que ahead was going down quickly now, and just before she reached the door a customer came out clutching a large paper bag to his chest.

“We’re sold out folks.” Lily heard a strong male voice call out to the waiting customers, who immediately started moving away, with less grumbling than Lily would have thought. This must be a regular occurrence.

“Knew I should have gotten here sooner, dang it.” The man behind her spoke, before heading back up the street in the direction of the Empire Hotel and the main road. Lily watched him go and noticed she was now the only person left waiting, seeing this as a perfect opportunity to strike up a conversation without holding up any customers she stepped inside. The man who had spoken had his head down adding numbers to a large notebook as she walked in. She tried to look for any signs of tattoos but his arms were covered by the same style white coat that she’d seen Mrs Potter wearing. But where her coat had a large golden E on it, this coat had an ornately scrolled S.

  
  


“I’m sorry if you didn’t hear, but we’re all sold out,” his voice trailed off as he looked up from his task, her heart gave an involuntary flutter as he shot a lopsided grin at her while dropping his pen. He wasn’t wearing the chef’s whites, but Lily was pretty sure this must be Sirius. He was incredibly handsome, dark eyes regarded her behind dark framed glasses, that rested on a bold but not over large nose, his strong jaw had a hint of stubble that suggested he had either missed shaving that morning or was someone who needed to shave more frequently. A green and white check bandana covered his head showing very little of the dark hair underneath apart from at the nape of his neck where a few strands had escaped and were curling. He flashed another smile at her showing perfectly straight white teeth. “All I’ve got is coffee. Would you like some?” The way he asked wasn’t the usual seller to potential purchaser tone. It sounded to Lily like he was offering her a friendly drink. 

“How much is your coffee?”

“Oh no, it’s not for sale, it’s just I’m going to have a cup, so if you want some too you can. It’s not good enough to sell to customers.” He flushed slightly and shook his head. “I’m sorry. Mum usually does the customer side. I need more practice. It’s not terrible I promise.” 

“The coffee or your customer service?” she replied with a twitch of her own lips.

“Both could be better,'' he replied. That lopsided grin was back again as he adjusted his glasses and made his way over to the only plastic thing in the shop apart from the till. He looked at her expectantly as he held two empty mugs. 

“Eh, yeah sure. I’ll have a cup. Milk and one sugar if you have it.” Lily was trying her best to stop admiring him. She had never found herself attracted to someone quite as quickly before, especially not someone who Remus was hopeless about. Lily determinedly squashed down her attraction, her friendship code wouldn’t allow that. From what Remus had told her she was pretty sure Sirus wouldn’t be interested in her anyway. Remus might not be sure, but Lily knew that he had a tendency to get rather flustered around attractive men, and miss the most obvious of signals. “I hope your mum’s okay?” she asked, taking the mug quickly as he was holding the handle out to her. 

“Oh yeah, she’s fine, just her day off.” He waved his hand casually before grabbing his own mug. She took a sip of the coffee as she tried to think of a way to bring up the whole reason why she was here. He was right, the coffee wasn’t good enough to sell. It tasted like the stuff she occasionally had to drink from her work’s vending machine. She tried to hide the grimace at the taste. 

“I have a friend who was here yesterday, he said you’ve not been open long? But you must be doing well to sell out so quickly.”

“We’ve been doing okay,” he replied modestly, giving a shrug and rubbing the back of his neck. “We normally have more made, but on the days my mum isn't here it’s more difficult to keep up, you know?”

“Yes, I understand, that must be so difficult to manage. Did you relocate far, because it doesn’t seem like you're new to this?” Why was she interviewing him? This wasn’t how it was supposed to be going, but she just wanted to know everything about him. It was incredibly charming, the way his eyes would meet hers then drift away like he didn’t want to be caught looking too intently at her.

“We had a place in Brighton, it did pretty well but just didn’t get the foot traffic. A developer offered to buy the whole row of shops well above the market value, so mum decided we would try our luck in the city instead.” He seemed to be relaxing into the conversation, resting a hip against the back counter, his free hand holding onto the edge. Lily found herself clinging on to every word he uttered, he had a very calming tone to his voice. He was so fascinating to her. Oh, it wasn’t fair that someone could be so attractive and so unavailable.

“Oh, I love Brighton, me and my mates would go all the time when I was at Uni, there are some really great bars and drag shows, it’s always a fun night,” she told him earnestly. “There is such a good scene in Brighton you must miss it.”

“Maybe a little but honestly it’s been a long time since I went out regularly, and the bars were never really for me. Bakers have to be up too early in the morning to spend all night out drinking.”

“The hours must make it difficult to spend time with your boyfriend,” she asked him, trying her best to sound casual. He choked on his coffee.

“Boyfriend?” he spluttered, making her shrug.

“I just thought a handsome guy like you, no way you’re single?” She smiled at him warmly, he was clearly a little shy talking about this as his cheeks flushed slightly. He even looked attractive when he did that.

“That’s nice of you to say, but sadly I am definitely, extremely single. What about you? Anyone special in your life? Did you come to my shop to buy sweet treats for them?” She shook her head in reply.

“No, I’m just as single too. I guess we’re both as bad as each other?”

“Eh yeah, I guess we are. It’s a nice change when someone comes in and isn’t mad we have sold out of food. ” He took a long drink from his coffee, his eyes watching her intently over the top of his mug. It would have made her blush if she thought he had any interest in her.

“Yes I can imagine.” She really could sympathise, her own work took up so much of her time, a social life beyond the occasional night out with her friends was pretty much beyond her. “Well if you ever get a day off and want to go drink better tasting coffee than this I know a few places, one not that far from here in fact.”

“You do?” he asked, sounding surprised. "I’d like that. It’s my day off tomorrow actually, it’s probably too soon…”

“No, tomorrow would be nice. Shall we meet here around this time?”

  
  


Remus was sitting at the kitchen table once more when she got home, various piles of chopped vegetables arranged before him in neat piles. She loved it when she was home for Remus’ cooking, it always made her feel like they were their own little family. She walked up to him and hugged his shoulders as he continued to chop mushrooms into four.

“You seem happy,” he observed, “did you have a nice day off?”

“It  _ was _ nice actually,” she replied, releasing him and grabbing a slice of pepper, “I’m off again tomorrow we should do something.” He shrugged and nodded in a maybe kind of way. Which was as close to a  _ yes I’d love to _ as she was likely to get.

“What do you have in mind?”

“Oh, nothing in particular, we could just go out for coffee, or whatever.”

“Lily, you constantly complain to me that barista coffee is overpriced, to be fair you complain that most things in London are overpriced” his eyes squinted at her suspiciously. “What are you up to?”

She took a bite of the pepper and tried to look innocently back at him. “Why do you think because I want to do something nice with my friend you immediately think I’m up to something? It’s outrageous.” She finished her pepper before giving a dramatic yawn. “Well, I think I’ll take a little nap before dinner is ready, unless you want some help?”

“No, I’m good thanks. Pretty sure I can manage to make pasta sauce without your assistance, I’ll wake you when it’s ready.”

*

Lily was enjoying walking with Remus, they didn’t do it nearly often enough. Normally when she walked it was by herself, with a purpose and normally at a brisk pace, but not today. Today she was strolling casually with one of her best friends, back down to the street where the bakery was. Her arm was linked through Remus’ who, as always had his camera slung around his neck making him look more like a tourist than someone who had lived in London their entire life. Freelance photographers lived for that perfect image that would make them, they also never took a day off. Lily had given up trying to get him to part with it for at least a day long before now. But it seemed today he was content to leave his camera at his side.

Either Remus was no longer suspicious of Lily’s motives to go for coffee with him , or he had decided to play along. He was looking very fine in chinos and a coral V-neck jumper. He had styled his sandy locks, and it was flopping over to the left side of his face in a perfectly casual way. She was pretty sure the reason why he was so nicely dressed and no longer asking questions was because he had sussed out her cunning plan to set him up with Sirius the fit bakery guy. Especially as he had not even commented when there were a dozen nicer coffee shops much closer than the one she had suggested.

“Can we please stop pretending that we aren’t going to the bakery now? I’m pretty sure you are setting me up in some way here, and by the direction we are going, it has to be with that delicious baker boy,” Remus said finally, making Lily chuckle slightly.

“Why do we have to stop pretending? I was having so much fun watching you silently holding back your questions.” He didn’t respond at first just compressed his lips into a thin line and continued their walk in companionable silence.

“You may as well tell me, we are almost there.”

“Well okay, yes, but you have to pretend to be all shy and surprised to see him, I want my matchmaking skills to be on full show.” She hugged his bicep briefly, making him shudder at the contact. Lily loved when Remus was slightly off balance it made her feel a bit more normal about her own insecurities.

“Lily, there will be no need to pretend, I’m already in danger of sweating through my jumper,”

“But you look so handsome,” she replied looking up at him adoringly making him smile a small pleased smile. “Sirius isn’t going to know what hit him.”

“Oh, I hope you’re right.”

Lily spotted him before Remus did, standing outside his bakery, talking to another man, who Lily assumed was a customer by the familiar paper bag he was carrying. At least she thought it was the same guy who had offered her a coffee yesterday. She recognised the smile first, and his laugh as it drifted towards them. Lily had thought he looked handsome before in his white coat and bandana, but it was nothing compared to how he looked with his hair set free. He had so much of it, how on earth had he kept it all under that piece of fabric. He was wearing jeans and a short sleeved shirt. Lily looked curiously to Remus when he stopped walking, a funny little half smile on his face. Sirius walked over to them smiling and raised his hand to shake Remus’ own, his forearms clearly visible, without a single tattoo. Lily’s heart began to hammer slightly as the reality of the situation dawned on her.

This wasn't Sirius.

This must be the other brother, the one that Remus hadn’t said much about at all. He could have warned her how disarmingly handsome he was. Remus shook hands with him enthusiastically, looking more amused than disappointed at Lily’s mistake. “Nice to see you again.”

“Yeah, you too,” not Sirius replied, with a sidelong look at her. Lily crossed her arms and squinted, this was not how this was supposed to go.

“Lily, have you met Sirius’ brother James?”

“Not properly, no,” she said slowly he offered his hand out to her and when she took it she had the strangest sensation, almost like pins and needles shooting up her arm. “You knew I was going to bring Remus, didn’t you?” She asked him letting his hand go probably a little too quickly but she felt so completely off balance.

“When you said you had a friend visit the shop the day before and then asked if I had a boyfriend I kind of guessed. It was flattering actually to be mistaken for him, he’s normally the one who gets all the attention.” Lily wanted to say that she found that hard to believe but she was struggling with the ability to form coherent sentences.

“So Sirius, is he?” Remus asked, taking advantage of Lily’s silence and James smirked.

“He told me he wasn’t sure if you were picking up his signals, he felt off his game without his hair to flip around.” He played with his own hair for emphasis, Lily’s heart gave a little flutter. Remus reached for her hand and gave it a squeeze. “It’s his turn in the window today,” James continued, “it does draw in the customers.” He was watching her again, his hands in his pockets, trying not to be too obvious about it but every time she caught him looking at her it was like she was under a heat lamp. How could she have been so stupid yesterday not to see?

“I’m sorry I thought you were your brother, even though I’ve never met him.” He smiled at her again giving her both barrels of his dazzling white teeth.

“Oh, you will meet him soon enough, he’s just cleaning up. Mum said she’d close today, the customers never argue with her.” He took a step backwards in the direction of his shop still looking at them. “I’m just gonna go see if he’s ready.” James turned sharply before trotting over and disappearing down the small gap between the bakery and the next shop. As soon as he was out of sight Lily’s knees felt weak, and she grabbed onto Remus to hold herself steady. Remus turned to her, his face looking concerned.

“Lily, are you okay?”

“I’ve made a complete idiot of myself, what’s he going to think? This is terrible and he’s so cute. How did I not notice?” Remus looked at her astonished. She took a couple of breaths as Remus steadied her with a hand on her waist.

“And you say I’m an idiot when I see an attractive man. Lily, he adores you, I could see it clearly.”

“No, he was just being polite about the mix up!”

“He was trying to be polite, but he couldn’t keep his eyes away from you.”

“You really think?” She tried to get a grip on herself, she knew in herself she ever saw Remus or Marlene behaving this way she would tell them to do just that and probably be a lot more blunt about it than Remus was being.

“Yes I do, so stop thinking like you’re an idiot and let's go have a really nice time with two really nice boys, okay?” As much as she didn’t particularly relish the idea of going on what would be a double date with Remus, in this moment she was glad he was there. He had talked her back from the edge.

“You’re right, okay.” She closed her eyes and exhaled fully to expel the last vestiges of her anxiousness . “So do you think this is like a double date? He’s not exactly asked, and he knows I wasn’t exactly asking him. So is this a date?”

Remus rolled his eyes at her and threw up his hands. “You need to stop, you need to catch your breath and stop overthinking this.” He rubbed her arm. “He wasn’t mad or offended, he said he was going to get his brother. He was giving you full on smouldering eyes so badly.”

“He’s so lovely, what do I do?”

“Lily, I know it’s been a while, but you’ve had a coffee with another human being before.” 

He looked up then and his cheeks started to flush slightly, she followed his gaze to see James returning with the person who could only be Sirius, and now she understood what James had meant about Sirius always getting the attention. He was the type of person that drew every eye , even without trying. He flicked his long black hair over his shoulder as he walked towards them, already smiling confidently.

Lily understood perfectly why Remus had found this man so attractive, he was clean shaven with strongly defined cheekbones and a slightly sharp chin. He was perhaps an inch shorter than his brother but you could only tell if they were standing side by side like they were now. Seeing them in person she saw they were not that alike at all. Sirius was wearing skinny jeans and a tucked in dress shirt with its sleeves pushed back above his elbow, the top two buttons were undone leaving it open at the neck revealing some braided cord necklaces. His eyes were pale and they looked at Lily with warmth as he reached out to take her hand, his intricately tattooed forearm clearly visible.

“So it’s you I have to thank for setting this up then?” He tilted his head and looked at her admiringly. “I was annoyed at myself for not being more obvious and asking for your friend's number,” when he said those words his gaze turned to Remus and then never left. “James can tell you I haven’t stopped talking about him ever since that day.” Lily watched her friend react to such an intensely obvious stare, he looked a little taken aback at first, but slowly the edges of Remus’ mouth curled up and his eyes met the others blushing slightly. 

“Sirius, you say it like it’s been weeks, it was only two days,” James piped up with a smirk, drawing Lily’s attention, she smiled back at him enjoying this shared moment. “But yeah it’s true.” Sirius returned his gaze to her and took her hand once more to quickly place a kiss upon it. 

“Thank you,” he said then gestured to his brother. “And James thanks you too. If nothing else than stopping me from being a -- what did you call me?  _ ‘A mopey arsehole?’ _ ” He let her hand go and turned his full attention back to Remus, who was standing very still and looking like he was totally captured by the magnetism of Sirius and his smile. “Shall we let these two get better acquainted?” He asked Remus, offering his arm. 

“Er, yeah okay.” he managed to reply, a bright smile appearing on his face. Remus took his arm and they started walking off together already talking to each other like this was more than only the second time of meeting.

“That went well, I think,” James said as they both watched them walking away, heads close together. “If you don’t want to - I mean it’s totally fine- I understand if you didn’t really.” His sudden insecurity made Lily’s own nerves fade a little. He was just as nervous as she was, she noticed as he raised his hand and rubbed the back of his neck.

“No, I would love to. As long as you do? I really want to go have a drink with you,” she looked down at herself, and tried not to sigh. “I just wish I’d made more of an effort to make myself look presentable.”

“What I’m seeing you look pretty perfect to me,” he replied, which made Lily snort out a loud laugh. 

“James, that was quite a line,” she chuckled, making him blush and look down at his feet. “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to embarrass you. I liked it.” She took a step towards him and lifted his chin so his eyes would meet hers again. She glanced over to where Remus and Sirius were now standing facing them, Remus had his camera up to his face and Sirius was casually resting an arm on his shoulder. “They look like a couple already, how is that possible?”

“Sometimes things are just meant to be together, like tomato and basil, or hazelnut and chocolate,” he suggested offering his hand to her. When she placed her hand into his, fingers sliding along his roughened palm she knew exactly what he meant. 


End file.
